Vladimir Putin is wrong to doubt America's exceptionalism. But those who bash the Russian president for inferring that the United States is not above reproach when it comes to its behavior on the world stage have a myopic view of the past.

Sure, the Russian president must be reminded that for much of the past century, the U.S. has had no equal. He ought to be told that it was the U.S. that led the world through the tumultuous 20th century. And after all, it was the U.S. military that turned the tide of the battles in World War I and World War II -- and the American economic engine that fueled Europe's recovery from the devastation wrought by Nazi Germany.

In fact, as exceptional nations go, the U.S. ranks right up there with the Roman Empire and England during its period of colonial dominance as the world's most exceptional nation. That Putin seems unmindful of this record has produced one of those rare things on which congressional Republicans and Democrats agree: slamming the Russian president.

"I almost wanted to vomit," Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Robert Menendez, D-N.J., said after reading The New York Times op-ed article by Putin that criticized President Obama's threat to attack Syria if it doesn't give up its chemical weapons. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. -- the old war horse who seems to think peace is a conspiracy to keep this nation out of war -- said what the Russian president wrote "is an insult to the intelligence of every American."

Like Putin, they protest too much. American exceptionalism, when put to good use, has made this world a better place. That's the point Obama was making recently when he went on national television to explain to a doubting public why he might have to order an attack on Syria.

"Terrible things happen across the globe, and it is beyond our means to right every wrong," Obama said. "But when, with modest effort and risk, we can stop children from being gassed to death, and thereby maybe make our own children safer over the long run, I believe we should act. That's what makes America different. That's what makes us exceptional."

In truth, there have been times when things that make us exceptional have also made us bad.

It took a lot of exceptional Americans to develop the atomic bomb. But when just two of those weapons of mass destruction were dropped on Japan, it's estimated that 220,000 men, women and children were killed by those blasts. That's a heavy cross to bear by the only nation to use such a weapon -- a country that routinely questions whether other nations can be trusted with its destructive power.

In a news release issued shortly after the first atom bomb was dropped on Aug. 6, 1945, President Harry Truman explained that he ordered the use of this awful weapon to beat Japan into submission and end World War II. "We are now prepared to obliterate more rapidly and completely every productive enterprise the Japanese have above ground in any city," the president said.

Napalm, another deadly bit of American exceptionalism, was invented by a Harvard University professor. When a napalm bomb explodes, a flaming gel spatters indiscriminately in every direction. It clings to anything it touches with flames that reach up to 5,000 degrees. As a weapon of mass destruction, napalm is some pretty nasty stuff.

I don't know whether Putin had any of this in mind when he questioned Obama's talk of American exceptionalism. But instead of a shrill counterattack on the Russian president, its defenders should acknowledge both this nation's great successes -- and costly failures.